UF celebrates Constitution Day Tuesday

8886-20000715 Constitution Day commemorates the signing of the U.S. Constitution in 1787, and each year the University of Florida – along with other public funded universities – celebrate the day with special programs and activities. Cake and drinks will be served.

This year the University of Florida Levin College of Law will hold a reading of the Constitution in UF Law’s Freedom of Speech area on the northeast side of the law campus from noon to 1 p.m.

The events are sponsored by the University of Florida, with support from the UF Levin College of Law, George A. Smathers Libraries and the Graham Center.

The UF Libraries are also holding a reading of the Constitution under the canopy on the Plaza of the Americas outside of Library West from noon to 1 p.m.

This year, in addition to the live reading of our founding documents from noon-1 p.m. on the Plaza of the Americas, the Bob Graham Center for Public Service will take a page out of late-night comedian Jay Leno’s playbook this Constitution Day, imitating the show’s “Jaywalking” segment. A Bob Graham Center staff member and camera crew will stroll the UF campus and ask unsuspecting students simple questions about the Constitution. A video compilation of the interviews will be posted for viewing on the Bob Graham Center website and the center’s YouTube channel.

As part of UF’s Constitution Day celebration, UF Law is also hosting “ The Right to Counsel, 50 Years Later,” on Thursday, Sept. 19. The symposium is a look back at Gideon v. Wainwright, the landmark case that established the constitutional right of defendants to have access to legal counsel.